2306 Bulletin 4-7* United States National Museum. 



are arranged in very oblique series miming downward and backward; 

 the scales on the belly inconspicuous or obsolete. Lateral line little 

 developed, running high. Eyes small, on anterior and upper portion of 

 head, with vertical rings. Mouth vertical, with strong and prominent 

 mandible; teeth moderate, on jaws, vomer, and palatines. Premaxillaries 

 freely protractile; maxillary broad, without supplemental bones, not slip- 

 ping under the preorbital. Gill openings wide, continued forward; gill 

 membranes nearly separate, free from isthmus. Pseudobranchise present ; 

 6 branchiostegals ; 3 gills, a slit behind the last; no anal papilla. Spi- 

 nous dorsal very short or wanting ; second dorsal long. Anal and pectorals 

 large, the latter with broad oblique bases, the lower rays rapidly short- 

 ened, most of them branched; ventrals jugular, close together, I, 5, the 

 spine very short, innermost ray longest; caudal not forked. Air bladder 

 generally absent ; pyloric creca in moderate number. Vertebra* 24 to 26. 

 Carnivorous fishes, living on the bottom of the shores of most warm regions. 

 Genera 8 ; species 25. 

 UHANOSCOPIN^E : 

 a. Spinous dorsal of 4 or 5 well developed spines; scales present. 



b. Head above notentirely covered with bone, the occipital plate ceasingmuch behind 

 the orbits ; from the middle line anteriorly a Y-shaped bony process extends 

 forward, the tips of the fork between the eyes ; a trapezoidal space on either 

 side of the Y, covered by naked skin, bounded by the Y, the eyes, the subor- 

 bitals, and the occipital plate. A covered furrow behind and on the inner 

 side of each eye terminating near front of orbits, its edges fringed. Head 

 without spines ; humeral spine obsolete ; lips and nostrils fringed ; no retract- 

 ile tentacle in mouth. . ASTROSCOPUS, 856. 

 KATHETOSTOMATINJE : 



aa. Spinous dorsal obsolete ; no scales ; head above covered with bone except the groove 

 of the premaxillary spine; the bony occipital plate coalescing with the orbital 

 rims ; humeral spine well developed ; no distinct protuberances on top of head : 

 no spine in front of humeral spine ; 2 small forward-directed spines in front of 

 eye; 3 small spines on lower margin of preopercle; upper lip scarcely fringed; 

 no retractile tentacle in mouth ; ventral fin not largely adnate to abdomen. 



KATHETOSTOMA, 857. 



856. ASTROSCOPUS, Brevoort. 



(ELECTRIC STAR-GAZERS.) 



Astroscopus (BREVOORT) GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1860, 20 (anoplos; young). 

 Agnus, GUNTHER, Cat. Fishes, II, 229, 1860 (anoplos). 



TJpselonphorus, GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1861, 113 (misprint for TTpsilonphorus) 

 (y-grcecum; adult). 



Body robust. Head above not entirely covered with bone, the occipital 

 plate ceasing much behind the orbits; from the middle line anteriorly a 

 Y-shaped bony process extends forward, the tips of the fork between the 

 eyes; a trapezoidal space on either side of the Y, covered by naked skin, 

 bounded by the Y, the eyes, the suborbitals, and the occipital plate. A cov- 

 ered furrow behind and on the inner side of each eye terminating near front 

 of orbits, its edges fringed. Head without spines ; humeral spine obsolete ; 

 lips and nostrils fringed; no retractile tentacle in mouth. Young indi- 

 viduals with top of head largely covered by bone. Head scaleless; back 

 and sides covered with close-set scales; belly mostly naked. Humeral 



